1 Corinthians 3  Contemporary English Version

Working Together for God

3 My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That's why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. ^2 (A) So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, ³ because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves you are not spiritual and you are acting like the people of this world.

^4 (B) Some of you say you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn't this how ordinary people behave? ⁵ Apollos and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith. It was the Lord who made it all happen. ^6 (C) I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow. ⁷ What matters isn't those who planted or watered, but God who made the plants grow. ⁸ The one who plants is just as important as the one who waters. And each one will be paid for what they do. ⁹ Apollos and I work together for God, and you are God's garden and God's building.

Only One Foundation

¹⁰ God treated me with undeserved grace and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build, ¹¹ because Christ is the only foundation. ^12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. ¹⁴ We will be rewarded if our building is left standing. ¹⁵ But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.

^16 (D) All of you surely know you are God's temple and his Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷ Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.

¹⁸ Don't fool yourselves! If any of you think you are wise in the things of this world, you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise. ^19 (E) This is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish. It is just as the Scriptures say, “God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him.” ^20 (F) The Scriptures also say, “The Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless.” ^21-22 So stop bragging about what anyone has done. Paul and Apollos and Peter^[a] all belong to you. In fact, everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you, ²³ and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.